The present invention relates to a cover for a padlock which is intended to be used in environs where the lock could come into contact with water, mud, dirt, dust, snow, salt and the like, which would cause damage to the lock if same is not properly protected. The cover of the present invention is therefore intended to protect the padlock from the elements insofar as the operative elements are concerned. Primarily the cover of the present invention is intended to be received around a padlock that is used in conjunction with a chain device to secure a spare tire to a truck, pickup or the like whereby theft of same is thwarted. Normally the spare tire is mounted exterior to the vehicle where the lock is continuously exposed to the elements.
Different types and styles of covers have heretofore been proposed and used around padlock bodies to protect same from the elements. Such covers have generally been made of flexible materials such as rubber, molded plastic or the like, and the majority of same are provided as two pieces that interconnect somewhere along the height of the lock body, with the top portion having appropriate openings for receiving the legs of the lock shackle.
Exemplary of the prior art which is generally directed to covers of the type mentioned above include U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,662,612 to Junkunc; 2,541,638 to Clevett; 3,848,440 to Manuel; 3,983,725 to Manuel; and 104,441 to Gale; Austrian Pat. No. 154,804 to Spitzer, and German Pat. No. 395,613 to Damm et al.
Though each of the above referred to prior art patents shows a lock cover of the same general type as the cover of the present invention, each alone or in combination is deficient in some fashion in teaching or suggesting the lock cover of the present invention. In particular, the lock cover of the present invention represents an improvement in the art, in that, the present cover better protects a padlock than those covers of the prior art, whereby the useful life of the lock is extended.